ramblings about food, travel & life

The Only Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Need

Whoops, it’s been forever. Story of my (blogging) life. It’s a Friday night when I thought I had plans and they just fell through -_- Not amused. What I am amused by, and hopefully you are too, is baking. Mmm, sweet sweet baking.

I’ve made these cookies three times in the past month. I didn’t think that would ever be necessary, especially for an overnight recipe (meaning they need to be refrigerated before baking). The thing is it takes about a half hour to make the dough (then that night you get to eat the dough) and the next day it takes about a half hour for baking, so then that night you get perfect PERFECT (did I say perfect), sweet, soft, chewy, classic chocolate chip cookies. They are from Sally’s Baking Addiction, a blog that I pin from a lot but don’t bake from a lot because she uses a LOT of sugar, sprinkles, ehh. I don’t love it. But I do LOVE these cookies. And you will too.

Also you don’t need a mixer so that’s a plus (because I don’t have one). You might not have cornstarch but it is worth the trip to get it. These cookies are perfect. They have pleased myself, countless friends, the staff of AWOL, and soon the DC contingent of F&W Camps. On to the recipe.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 and 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

So first mix those dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt. Set aside.

Melt your butter. I like to do this by cutting up the sticks and putting them in a Pyrex cup in the microwave (a 2 cup measure will do). Just do like 20-30 seconds at a time, and then stir between. Its ok if it has some white butter stuff in it, and not all yellow when you’re done.

While that’s microwaving, measure out the sugars, add the eggs (I know it’s weird to set aside that 1 white but you can have healthy eggs or something in the morning).Mix up that, then add the butter and vanilla. Pour in the flour mixture and stir to mix. It’s going to be kind of greasier than normal cookies at this point because all of that butter is melted vs. creamed. This makes a difference. I don’t question it. You shouldn’t either.

Ok, now you have the perfect cookie dough. PERFECT. Oh my gosh don’t taste it or you will eat it and never stop. Maybe you want to do that. That’s ok too. Mix in those chocolate chips and put that stuff in the fridge. Let sit overnight. All the butter will harden and it will become a hard mass of dough.

The next time you get to it, you’ll have to turn that rock solid lump of dough into a cookie form, so make use a spoon to make them into like 2-tablespoon sized clumps in the shape of giant tater tots (or cylinders? is that what that’s called?). The shape is important when they bake. You can refrigerate them again now or bake them now. I like to do this step when I have like 15 free minutes, and then later I can has cookies in like 10 minutes.

Because the next step is just to put them on the baking sheet and bake at 325 for 10 minutes. They should be a little golden-brown on top but don’t do the conventional “press down on the top and if it bounces back it’s done.” Spoiler alert, just because they’re done, doesn’t mean they’re “done.”A little under-baked means they settle into themselves a bit and have that nice wrinkly texture.

Eat them warm, eat them cool. Eat them before someone else does (because they really will)